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Hey Folks,
Do any of you have experience with game Crafter? I prototyped some dice for my 18th/19th century historical wargame. It's a print on demand site. The prices will be prohibitive for profit, but it will get my game out there. I self published a rock climbing guide that went well and my friends say I should do a Kickstarter, but I'm pretty hesitant as I have no idea how to source things other than printed material. I won't need any minis, just dice similar to bolt action. Maybe tokens. Rules almost done and getting ready for play testing. Print on demand just seems easier. Zero profit, but y'know... who cares.

The game is essentially similar to BoltAction plus a hand/deck of cards to allow for breaking rules, buffs, and debuffs with varying length of effects. I am hoping for it to be a very easy to play and learn game so it could be something that guys with lots of historical minis but without a club could coax friends into playing easily. No delusions of ROI or popularity or publication. It's just for me mainly, but I want some spit and polish. It will cover the "Black Powder" game's eras. Here's what I'm envisioning as the product list:

BASIC RULE BOOK: This will cover all rules for all periods and have a reference sheet for using standard d6 or BoltAction dice plus 2 standard decks of playing cards.
- PDF Free
- Hard Copy full color

ORDER DICE: Sold in packs of 14 or 15. Basically d6s with 8 stickers for each side.

NATIONALITY COMBAT CARDS: Sold in poker boxes. 54 cards with the deck of combat cards for your particular nationality and time period. Each card in the pack will be unique with the back having the nation's particular flag or crest. The nationality cards will be 90% identical to the ones in the free PDF. However some cards will be similar to, but more powerful than the basic card decks described in the free rules. The cards will have artwork with rules at the top and a bit of history at the bottom for cinematic flavor. For example:

Robert E Lee:
"Play during your turn. All CSA regiments who have not moved since the begining of the turn gain +1 cover to a Max of +2 until moved. This remains in effect for the entire game until a regiment moves."
(Picture)
"In the early days of the war, Lee ordered his men to dig extensive entrenchments around Richmond. This earned him the derisive moniker of "The King of Spades." As the war raged on, his orders proved visionary. Later, men of both sides would entrench whenever possible. This foreshadowed trench warfare of WW1 of the next century."

DELUXE BOXED SET (per conflict)
-Hard Copy Rule Book
-2 sets of order dice
-2 sets of Nationality Combat Cards

Conflicts considered so far:
-ACW (almost done. - Inspired by "NHotCW" by Shelby Foote)
-1st - 7th Coalition Wars (reading history currently - Inspired by "War of Wars")
-AWI
-Others?

Thoughts welcomed.

I sell my current game through thegamecrafter.com. It's essentially zero profit, but it's also zero worry/work. I think I make about $2 on a $26 item. I could charge more, but I don't think the item I'm selling is worth more than that. If you peruse their games you'll notice they're all quite expensive (but perhaps people pay well above what I would for a product).

Their production, however, is top notch. I've been very pleased. They've made steady upgrades to their basic cards, etc. It's a lot of work to get everything set up for the cards, but their quality is excellent. If anything it's a superb way to test your stuff. If you print a full set, and it takes off at conventions, etc...then you can consider going forward with normal production. Gamecrafter does offer bigger discounts as you order more. I've debated ordering 100 of my game before, just because it would make me $14 a box instead of $2....but I'm not that interested in handling/shipping all that stuff at this time.

So is it the best way to sell something? Not really. But for a company that does excellent work, and you don't have to do anything when someone orders your product, it's nice and useful. It's also a great source when you get used to it, to make quick custom stuff for your own games or expansions for other games. They're pretty strict about copyrighted images, etc. obviously. I tend to use photos from commission painters, or photos I've taken, and then a bunch of basic imagery work (free files modified in photoshop, using free textures/fonts, etc.).